UNITED NATIONS,
March 28 – With former UN
legal adviser Felix
Agbor-Balla in Cameroon facing
a military trial with the
death penalty on the table, a
UK-based legal group has
written to Cameroonian
president Paul Biya (here)
while his former employer the
UN has done... nothing.
Inner City Press will be
asking the UN yet
again, while also seeking
action and responses from
others. With the UN's response
to weeks of questions about
repression and Internet cut
off in Cameroon from Inner
City Press being two ambiguous
statements about the work of
its Francois Lonseny Fall, on
the morning of March 27 Inner
City Press asked the UN's
three top spokespeople: "In
Cameroon, on which you've said
the UN's Lonseny Fall is
working, now the government
has acted against TV station
CRTV reporting on unrest in
Western Cameroon. What is your
comment, and what is Lonseny
Fall or anyone else in the UN
system doing about it? As
asked before, what is the
status of naming the next
Resident Coordinator, and
confirm if Najat Rochdi has
begun at Deputy SRSG post in
CAR." At the day's UN
noon briefing, sans
UN-restricted Inner City
Press, spokesperson Farhan Haq
faced only two questions.
Afterward his Office sent
Inner City Press this, which
we publish in full: "Regarding
the question you asked about
Cameroon, the United Nations
Regional Office for Central
Africa (UNOCA), and the UN
Country Team in Cameroon
continue to follow events in
the country. Concerning
reports of the closure by the
Government of a TV station in
Western region of Cameroon,
our colleagues are looking
into the allegations. We
remain concerned about reports
of pressure being placed on
press organs in Cameroon that
are working on the situation
in the Anglophone Regions,
including reports of arrests
and even alleged disappearance
of journalists."

Cameroon
Anglophone human rights
defenders set for show trials
on March 23 ran into a new
trick: the government trying
to join the cases of 25 more
defendants with theirs. From
collective punishment to
collective trials. The ruling
on that will now be on April
7. Tellingly, Voice of
America's story
didn't even mention the
Internet cut-off for more than
60 days in Anglophone
Cameroon, not that defendant
Felix Agbor Balla was a UN
legal adviser, for whom
today's UN does nothing. VOA
and the UN: birds
of a feather.

While the UN first stonewalled
then issued misleading
statements about Cameroon,
where the Internet has been
cut off by the government in
the Northwest and Southwest
(Anglophone) regions for more
than 60 days and counting,
Inner City Press March 21,
Inner City Press asked the
UN's deputy spokesman Farhan
Haq about the summons against
Akere Muna, the lawyer for a
former UN legal adviser,
Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla.
UN's March 21 Transcript
here and below. On March
22, Inner City Press asked the
UN about the underlying
detention of Agbor-Balla. Video
here; UN
transcript here:

Inner City
Press: I wanted to ask
you a Cameroon question.
I'd asked you yesterday about
this lawyer that's been
summoned in, and there's
growing outrage about
that. But, actually,
he's the lawyer for a person
that used to be a UN legal
adviser in UNAMA [United
Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan] named Felix Agbor
Balla. He's a lawyer
that worked for the UN and now
has been detained for
months. Several US
Congresspeople have, in fact,
raised the issue. And
I'm just wondering, one,
particularly in the case of a
former UN staff locked up
seemingly without any type of
due process, locked up only
for advocacy, is there any UN
role in these cases in
actually looking into this
individual case of a… of a
former UN legal adviser now
under detention in Yaoundé?

Deputy Spokesman: Well,
we would certainly expect that
due process is followed.
We want to make sure that…
especially that human rights
defenders are not being
prosecuted unfairly and those
would be key concerns.

Agbor-Balla's continued
detention has triggered
protest from, as it happens,
the US state of Indiana, where
Congress members of both
parties have spoken out:
Democrat André Carson and
Republican Jackie Walorski.
But the UN, after two weeks of
Press questions, offered only
a statement by its Francois
Lonseny Fall, largely covering
up for the government of Paul
Biya, in power for 32 years.
What good is the UN? The
question is becoming louder:
watch this site.

From the March 21
transcript:

Inner City Press:
in Cameroon, a guy called
Akéré Muna, who was at one
time the vice-chair of
Transparency International,
has been summoned by the
police since the statement
that was read here on Friday
about how this dialogue is
going. So, given that
Mr. Muna, in particular, is
representing some of those
who've already been detained
by the Government, given that
you've made a statement saying
that there's a dialogue that
Mr. [Francois] Loncény Fall
was involved, if there have
been many arrests since then
and, in fact, the main lawyer
for that community is now
being arrested, what's your
comment?

Deputy Spokesman:
in Cameroon, we would be
concerned about any efforts to
hinder the work of human
rights defenders. Human
rights defenders, wherever
they are, need to be able to
go about their work without
hindrance and without fear of
arrest.

But
what is the UN
doing? Back
on March 17, lead UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric had returned
with an answer: "in response
to the situation in the
Anglophone regions of
Cameroon, the UN Special
Representative of the
Secretary-General and Head of
the UN Regional Office for
Central Africa (UNOCA), Mr.
François Louncény Fall,
carried out a number of visits
to the country to discuss with
the concerned parties the
situation on the ground.
His office has also carried
out a number of working-level
visits. Mr. Fall will
continue efforts to engage
with all relevant parties and
to monitor the situation in
close cooperation with the
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR).We firmly
believe that the grievances
expressed by the Anglophone
regions can only be addressed
through an inclusive
dialogue. In that
regard, we note that, on 15
March, the President of
Cameroon appointed the
president and 13
representatives to the
National Commission for the
promotion of Bilingualism and
Multiculturalism, the body
tasked to engage in dialogue
with the Anglophone community
of Cameroon."

But "all
relevant parties" does not
appear to include France,
whose UN Ambassador Francois
Delattre told Inner City Press
earlier on March 17 he was
unaware of the issue. Inner
City Press asked Dujarric,
straight up, if the UN thinks
the Internet should be brought
back. Video
here. UN
transcript
here:

Inner City Press:
thanks for the
statement. Inevitably,
there's at least one
follow-up. You said that
Mr. Loncény Fall had spoken to
all relevant parties.
And I wanted to know if this
included France. And I
say it… I ask it just because
the Permanent Representative
just now on camera said that
he'd never heard of the issue
of the internet being cut off
for 60 days.

Spokesman: Well, I can’t
answer that…

Inner
City Press:
Because I don't get answers
from DPA or Mr. Loncény Fall's
office can you ask whether
they spoke to [inaudible]…?
[that was FRANCE]

Spokesman: Yeah, I
don’t… the way I read it is
that he spoke to people in
Cameroon. So, if I can
find out more, I…

Inner City Press: Did he
call for the internet to be,
in fact, turned back on?

Spokesman: I think it's
obviously important that
people have access to the
internet.

In front
of the UN Security Council on
March 17 Inner City Press
asked France's Ambassador to
the UN Francois Delattre about
his counterpart in Yaounde,
Gilles Thibault, earlier this
month congratulating
32-year President Paul Biya
for how he's dealing with the
areas. Delattre replied that
he was unaware but would look
into it. Video
here.

Back on
March 14 Inner City Press
asked the US State Department:
"Back on November 28, 2016,
the Department issued a
statement of 'concern[] over
recent Cameroonian government
actions to restrict free
expression.' Since then, the
government has cut off the
Internet in the two regions,
also known as the Anglophone
areas, has arrested
journalists and most schools
remain closed. Is the US State
Department concerned about
these developments and if so,
what if anything has it done
about them?"

On March
15, a US State Department
official answered Inner City
Press: "We have discussed this
issue with the Government of
Cameroon both before and after
our statement of
concern. We don’t go
into the details of our
diplomatic conversations, but
we engage regularly with the
government on this and other
issues as part of our normal
bilateral relations." We hope
to have more on this.

On March
9, Inner City Press asked both
the International Monetary
Fund and the UN Security
Council's president about the
crisis in Cameroon's
Anglophone areas and heard
that while the IMF
acknowledges the financial
risk, the Security Council
does not see it as a threat to
international peace and
security. But the UN's
Resident Coordinator Najat
Rochdi has said nothing about
the crisis, and blocks
on Twitter the Press
which asks about it. Is the UN
system failing, in its new
Secretary General's promise of
increased preventative
diplomacy?

When the
IMF's spokesperson Gerry Rice
took questions on March 9,
Inner City Press asked about
Cameroon, specifically the
crackdown in the northwest and
southwest of the country.
Inner City Press asked, "On
Cameroon, after the mission
led by Corinne Delechat, what
is the status of talks for a
program, and since the IMF
cited “civil unrest in the
neighboring Central African
Republic,” please state the
IMF's awareness of civil
unrest and arrests in
Northwest and Southwest
Cameroon, also known as the
Anglophone areas, and their
impact." Rice read out the
question and then said, among
other things, that the risk
factors for 2017 include a
continuation of the "social
and political events" in the
"so-called Anglophone" areas
of Cameroon. Interim
video here. On IMF
site, here,
from 34:56. IMF
transcript below.

But a few
hours later when Inner City
Press asked the month's UN
Security Council president
Matthew Rycroft of the UK, who
had just been in Cameroon,
about the crisis, he said it
is not a threat to
international peace and
security. From the UK
transcript:

Inner City Press:
In Cameroon there’s an issue
that has been existing since
November in Anglophone areas
which have no internet for 52
days, there’s been teachers
arrested, no schools. So I’m
wondering as one Council
member said, it did somehow
come up in meetings, but was
the issue raised at all, and
what response was given by the
government to this ongoing cut
off of internet and abuse in
this area?

Amb Rycroft: It came up
informally in our contacts
with members of the Government
of Cameron but as far as I
recall it did not come up in
any formal meeting, and I
think that makes sense because
we were going there to look at
the threat to international
peace and security, and Boko
Haram, and related issues, but
in private, informal
discussions with ministers in
the Government of Cameroon it
came up and they gave us the
benefit of their perspective
on the issue.

Inner City Press: Is there any
Security Council role that can
be played in trying to
preventively deal with this
issue?

Amb Rycroft: I don’t think
it’s an issue on our agenda
per se, we keep our eye on our
radar across the world, but we
have to make a judgement about
whether something is a threat
to international peace and
security, and at the moment, I
think our judgement would be
that issue is an issue that is
confined within Cameroon
without international aspects.

Inner
City Press:
the answer you
sent about Mr.
[Francois]
Louncény Fall
saying that he
would raise
issues to the
authorities.
Can you say
whether the
issue of the
internet being
off in two
provinces for
52 days has
been
raised?
And,
secondarily, I
wanted to ask
you
this.
You announced
from this
podium that
Najat Rochdi
is going to
Central
African
Republic as
Resident
Coordinator.
What's the
process to
appoint a new
Resident
Coordinator
for the UN
system in
Cameroon?
And is it… is
it… is it… can
it be public
in any
way? It
seems many
people have
complained
that, while
she was there,
she never
raised the
Anglophone
issue.
And, in fact,
I found that
she blocks
Inner City
Press on
Twitter, so
I'm unable to
ask her why
this issue has
not been
raised.
But what's the
process to
replace… and
you can smirk,
but should a
UN official in
their official
account…?

Spokesman:
That's an
unrelated
thing. I
mean,
obviously, all
people… all
individuals,
not even just
all UN
officials, are
free to block
whoever they
want on
Twitter.
That's within
their rights.

Inner City
Press:
Including
missions?
So you think a
peacekeeping
mission should
pick and
choose which
media can
follow it?

Spokesman:
Organizations
will respond…
are supposed
to respond to
press
requests.
Individuals
can do
whatever they
like with
their Twitter
accounts.

Inner City
Press:
What's the
process of
replacing the
Resident
Coordinator in
Cameroon?

Spokesman:
It's the same
as in any
other
place.
There's a
process that
goes… that you
go through,
and the
Resident
Coordinator's
selection
process is
supervised by
the UN
Development
Programme
(UNDP).

This is at
odds with the
UN's claims to
be transparent
in its use of
public money,
and to be open
to the press
and impacted
public, and
will be
pursued at
Rochdi's next
assignment at
the UN in
Central
African
Republic. But
it raises the
question: how
are UN
Resident
Coordinators
selected?
Inner City
Press reported
on Ban
Ki-moon's son
in law
Siddharth
Chatterjee
getting
multiple
promotion
under Ban,
including
being named UN
Resident
Coordinator in
Kenya by Ban
himself.
(Inner City
Press was evicted
by Ban's UN,
and remains
restricted
under Ban's
successor).
But shouldn't
Anglophone
Cameroonians
have some
input into the
UN's next
Resident
Coordinator in
their country?
This is a
project for
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
@FUNCA_info.
Watch these
sites and
feeds.

"There is a
question of Cameroon, from
Matthew Lee, "After the
Mission what is the status of
talks for a program; and since
the IMF cited civil unrest in
the neighboring Central
African Republic, please state
the IMF's awareness of civil
unrest and arrests in
Northwest and Southwest
Cameroon? And also known as
the Anglophone areas, and
their impact?"

So, the background here is, I
think important the context.
So, the Fund's engagement here
in the CEMAC Region, CEMAC is
the six Central African
Economic nations that comprise
the Central African Economic
and monetary community. They
met in Yaoundé on December
23rd. The Managing Director
was there. And in that
meeting, heads of state
discussed the economic
situation, the severe shocks
that have hit that CEMAC
region in recent years,
including the sharp decline in
oil prices, and decided to act
collectively and in a
concerted manner. And the
heads of state requested the
assistance of the IMF to
design economic reforms needed
to reestablish macroeconomic
stability in each country and
in the region as a whole.

So, again, context: I can tell
you that the funders already
sent missions to Gabon,
Republic of Congo. And a
reminder to you, that we
already have programs with
Central African Republic and
Chad. Okay?

Now, we also have sent a
mission to Cameroon, which is
the question. And we did issue
a press statement, which the
question referred to, just on
Tuesday. That was the Corrine
Delechat reference.

So, the specific question, to
turn to that. We are indeed
aware of the events in the
so-called Anglophone regions
of Cameroon. The macroeconomic
impact of any event that could
affect production and/or
consumption, is typically felt
with a certain lag. So, these
events started in November
last year, and thus are likely
to have not had a significant
impact on production in 2016.

For 2017, the risks to our
growth outlook include a
combination of external and
domestic factors, including
continuation of the
sociopolitical events in the
northwest and southwest
regions of Cameroon. And as
our press release the other
day indicated, our view is
that the medium-term outlook
for the Cameroonian economy
remains positive, subject to
the implementation of
appropriate policies."

We'll have more
on this. Watch this site.

***

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